Dubai, November 15, 2009: GEMS students in the UAE now have anytime, anywhere access to Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition (http://school.eb.co.uk). Through the GEMS Learning Gateway (GLG) secondary students will have access to thousands of articles, illustrations, interactive games and multimedia resources to support their learning. As students use the internet more as a primary source of information, students can simply log-on to Britannica through the GLG from anywhere accessing content which is reliable, trustworthy and safe, providing peace of mind to both teachers and parents.

GEMS Education has bought this content for schools and integrated Britannica Online to make the learning experience truly interactive by providing students with learning resources at home to complement classroom teaching. To ensure that teachers and students alike get the most from their learning platform, Britannica provides accurate reference information that can be used to meet specific learning objectives in the classroom and ultimately make learning fun.

With this content, GEMS Education has reduced time spent by teachers on creating their own resources and planning to help children develop important research and ICT skills. Teachers also benefit from using the extensive Britannica resources to enhance their lessons with movie clips, images and animations, using the site as a reliable form of reference when planning their lessons.

"Access to Britannica online school edition is definitely one of the main highlights of the GLG. Britannica is reputed for its vast repository of information making research interesting and relevant and within a safe platform. We hope this will encourage our students to get actively involved in research as a part of their studies. This is yet another innovative tool to improve the quality of education in GEMS Schools", said Ralph Tabberer, COS, COO, GEMS MENASA

Britannica also provides on-demand Arabic translation, helping non-native English speakers with on the spot, accurate translations. Placing the mouse over a word will display the translation of the word or phrase in its current context. The translating tool goes beyond simple dictionary look-up by providing context analysis, phrase recognition and morphological support - a plural form in English is translated into the plural form in Arabic. Britannica makes sure that language does not become a barrier in the acquisition of knowledge.

Caroline Kennard, Director of Education for Encyclopædia Britannica UK, commented: "Established for 240 years, Britannica has a reputation for offering reliable and trusted information. Britannica School Edition provides the same level of accuracy for use by students and teachers in class as well as at home. Britannica Online is a fantastic source of information featuring articles, videos, pictures and games. It gives teachers, parents and carers confidence that children are using the internet safely. We are delighted to be working with GEMS Education ensuring thousands of learners and educators in the U.A.E. have access to the most current and accurate source of knowledge available to help their education."

To sign up for a free school trial visit: UUwww.britannica.co.uk/education/freetrial.htmUU  or call: +44 (0)20 7500 7800 for further information.

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About GEMS Education:
GEMS Education manages a growing network of high quality international schools around the world. GEMS network of schools provide education to 100,000 students from over 125 countries, employing over 7,000 education professionals, specialists and staff from over 60 nationalities. Supported by a network of eminent international advisors in the field of education, GEMS global network of multi-skilled specialists and in-house experts provide invaluable support and guidance in all areas related to schools, delivering world class standards of education. 'GEMS Education' offers total school management solutions: From project inception and planning to ongoing operations of schools. GEMS provides all round management of new school projects and existing schools. For further information visit: www.gemseducation.com 

About Encyclopædia Britannica:
Encyclopædia Britannica has been a leader in reference and education publishing since 1768. Britannica has been a pioneer in electronic publishing since the early 1980s. It publishes products which can be found in a variety of media, from the internet to mobile phones to books. Britannica School Edition is a unique, up-to-date, online resource designed to satisfy the learning needs of school pupils and teachers. Text, illustrations, multimedia and interactive games fully support the national curriculum and make learning fun.  The secure search facility allows pupils to find what they are looking for quickly and safely with no risk of questionable online content - all in a language that they can understand.  Britannica Online - clear, current and correct - brings all the authority and scholarship of Encyclopædia Britannica to the classroom.   In 2009, Britannica was voted one of the world's top ten 'superbrands' for the quality of its products and the confidence users have in the promise of the brand. (http://www.superbrands.uk.com/sb/index.html)

For further information visit: www.britannica.co.uk/education

For further information please contact:
 Hiba Al Hafidh / Sara Hamam
ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller
PO Box 28063,
Dubai,
UAE
Tel: (+971 4) 334 4550
Email: h.alhafidh@asdaa.com / s.hamam@asdaa.com
 

© Press Release 2009